Manual actuator for railway-signals.



T. M..FREEBLE. MANUAL ACTUATOR FOR RAILWAY SIGNALS. I

APPLICATIONiFILED OCT. 8, 1.912.

' Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

T. MQFREEBLE/ MANUAL ACTUATOR FOR RAILWAY SIGNALS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 8. i912 PiltElltQd Oct. 5, 1915.

mam-7?.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WH'NESSES Ami 9 P Figure '1 a verse section of THOMAS M.

w s -soration.

FREEBLE, OF ROCHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB, 01B ONE-HALF T0 RAYMOND M. KAUFMANN,'OF ZPITTSBURGH, IPENNSYLVANIA.

MANUAL ACTUATOR FOR RAILWAY-SIGNALS.

macaw.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS M. Fnnncnn, a resident of Rochester, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Manual Actuators for Railway-Signals, of which the following is a full, clear, and 6X- actdescription, reference being had to l the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which is a plan'view illustrating one form ofmy invention. Fig. 2 is a transthe same. I Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are ,views similar other forms'of the invention. Fig. 6 is a detail. sectional view of one form of indi- I cator which" may be employed. Fig. 7 is a ators for railway view similar to Fig.2, but showing another modification; and in the use of myinvention.

y invention has relation to manual actutrack signals. It frequently-happens that a track obstruction will occur in a block section of a railway signaling system, which is of such a nature that it will not set the signal or signals guarding the entrance ger. For instance, there may be some'projcction overhanging the track; there may be a landslide covering one of the rails; or various other conditions will not eifec t a short circuiting of the signal operating relay for the 'block section in which the obstruction occurs. 1

My invention provides means of simple character which, in such cases, can be readily applied to the track rails to throw the proper signals to danger positions at any and without the necessity for sending a signal man or other person back along the track to flag an approaching train;

To this end my invention consists of a manual device which, in its preferred form,

can be readily carried either in the pocket or in some convenient place where it can be quickly reached and whlch can be readily applied to the track rails to short circuit them and set the proper signal or signals at danger position.

The simplest, although not the preferred, form of my invention is illustrated in Fig. 7. In this figure the device is shown as consisting of a bar 2 of conducting material adapted to be engaged with the heads of the to Fig 2, but showing.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showto that block at danmay occur which series bet track rails 3' and to be secured thereto by the set screws 4. These screws form a means of closely binding the hooked end portionsof the bar in a good electrical contact with the heads of the rails, so that as soon as properly applied thereto it will at once eiiect a short circuit.

In Figs. 1 'and2, I have shown another form of my invention comprising two hooked contact members 5 adapted for applicatlon to the heads of the rails and se- Patenteol @ctsd, 1915.

Application filed October 8, 1912. Serial No. 724,595.

cured thereto by set screws 6. These two members are connected by a flexible conducting tape 7, which is preferably provided with a winding case 8, mounted on one ,o the members 5. This member 5 is also preferably provided with an indicator 9, which will indicate the fact that a short circuit has been obtained. This indicator may be of any suitable or well known character. One.

form of such indicator is shown in Fig. 6.

It consists of low resistancefield magnets 10,

between the poles of which is mounted a rotary indicator armature having metallic portions 11 and nonmetallic portions 12. This indicator armature is so balanced that it will normally stand in. the position shown in Fig. 6 with its .nonconducting portions opposite the poles of the magnets. When, however, the magnets are energized, the armature will be rotated to a position in which its magnetic portions are in the axial line of the ,field magnets. Thisbrings a suitable indicator 13 thereon, underneath a sight opening 14 in the inclosed casing 15. This indicator is shown as connected in 'een the bridging portion of the device and one of the set screws 6. Thus, in Fig. 2, one connection of the indicator is with one set screw 6 and its other connec tion is to the tape 7, the tape case being insulated at 8 from the contact member 5. Fig. 3 shows another form of my invention in which the bridge portion of the device is composed of a plurality of telescoping sections 16 which can be readily closed upon eat'h other to form a compact device.

Fig. 4 showsanothcr form which is adapted to be held in electrical contact with the heads of the rails by means of the eccentric clamps 1'5. The connecting portion 18 of the device is shown as-having an insulated joint at 18.

Fig. 5 shows still another form in which 116 formed by a plurality of folding jointed sections 19, which are capable of being folded in the manner of the sections of an ordinary pocket rule.

My invention is also susceptible of various other modifications.

It Will be readily-seen that if the device is applied across the rails, as shown in Fig.

'8, at any point ina block section between the source of current supply 20 for that section and the signal operating relay 21, the

- obstructed block.

I claim: l. A manual actuator for track signals, comprising a conductor adapted to bridge two opposite track rails and having contact members at its ends for engagement with the ralls, one of sari, members having a low ,resistance current indicator; substantially as described.

2. A manual actuator for track signals, comprising a conductoradapted to bridge two opposite track rails and having contact members-at its ends for engagement with the rails, one of said members having a low resistance current indicator, said indicator being in series with the bridging conductor; substantially as described.

3. A manual actuator for track signals comprising a conductor adapted to bridge two opposite track rails and having contact members at its ends for engagement rwith said rails, the two contact members having insulation between them, and a current indicator mounted on one of the contact mem- TiioMAs'M. FREEBLE.

Witnesses:

Geo. H. PARMELnE, H. M. CoRwIN. 

